Corneal grafts at St John Eye Hospital, Jerusalem, January 2001-November 2002

Aim: To compare a cohort of corneal graft patients in east Jerusalem with one in Sweden, concerning diagnosis, sex, patient age, preoperative visual acuity in both eyes, and type of operation. Methods: Standard forms developed for the Swedish Corneal Transplant Register were used for data collection at the time of operation. Results: In east Jerusalem, keratoconus accounted for 51% of the grafts compared with only 27% in Sweden and the male: female ratio was reversed. There were very few patients with endothelial disease. The Palestinian patients had overall worse visual acuity both in the eye to be operated and the fellow eye compared with patients in Sweden. Conclusion: Significant differences were found between the Palestinian and Swedish cohorts in the distribution of indications for transplantation and preoperative visual acuity.